Chicago Magazine - 09.2019

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PHOTOGRAPHY: (BABYMETAL) LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES; (

BARBER OF SEVILLE

) KEN HOWARD; (

ETERNAL LIGHT

) MICHAEL TROPEA; (SMITH) THEO WARGO/GETTY IMAGES; (OFFERMAN) NICHOLAS HUNT/GETTY IMAGES

118 CHICAGO | SEPTEMBER 2019

SEPT. 3–15 | THEATER

The Band’s Visit

QThis modest musical is based on the 2007 film

about an Egyptian orchestra, whose members

are part of their country’s police force, that

finds itself stranded in a small Israeli town

for the night after a wrong turn on the way

to a gig. Featuring a score by David Yazbek,

the show earned a whopping 10 Tony Awards

last year, including one for director (and

former Chicagoan) David Cromer; the touring

production, with Cromer again at the helm, is

one of the most anticipated visits of the fall.

Details Loop. Cadillac Palace Theatre.

$36–$220. broadwayinchicago.com

SEPT. 4–OCT. 6 | THEATER

Midsummer (A Play With Songs)

QThis past spring, actors Patrick Mulvey

and Chaon Cross played lovers traveling in

Mexico in Court Theatre’s stage adaptation of

The Adventures of Augie March. They’ll embody

another quirky couple in this rom-com about

an unlikely pair — he a small-time crook, she a

bitter divorce lawyer — who have an epic first

date. Written by Scottish playwright David Grieg

and songwriter Gordon McIntyre, Midsummer

has earned favorable comparisons to Once.

Details Lincoln Park. Greenhouse Theater

Center. $10–$25. greenhousetheater.org

SEPT. 5–8 | FESTIVAL

Collaborative Works Festival

QLike a major third filling an open fifth, the

Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago nestles

into the sweet spot between its regular season

and the summer circuit with its annual art-

song festival. This year it covers only works

created by living composers, and the opener is

even more specific, programming only female

Chicagoans, including Augusta Read Thomas

and Shulamit Ran.

Details Various locations. Free–$35 per concert.

caichicago.org

SEPT. 6 | LITERATURE

Kevin Coval

QAt this book launch party, Chicago’s

“breakbeat poet” will read from his new

collection–slash–graphic novel, Everything

Must Go, which celebrates the unsung heroes

of pregentrified Wicker Park. The event

doubles as the opening of a monthlong gallery

exhibition; Coval’s artistic collaborator,

Langston Allston, will have illustrations

on display.

Details Logan Square. Galerie F. 6 p.m. Free.

galeriefchicago.com

SEPT. 6 | OPERA

Stars of Lyric Opera

QIt’s the big chance each year to hear the city’s

most august opera company for only the price

of transportation to Millennium Park. This

installment features a healthy clipping from

The Barber of Seville, Lyric’s season opener,

w it h m a ny of t he pr i nc ipa l s t h at w i l l g r ace t he

grand stage. Also expect excerpts of famous

moments from the operatic canon, with a focus

on 2019–20 Lyric productions, which smart

money would say means “Un Bel Di” from

Madama Butterfly and “Là Ci Darem” from

Don Giovanni.

Details Loop. Jay Pritzker Pavilion. 7 p.m. Free.

lyricopera.org

SEPT. 6–OCT. 6 | THEATER

Dana H.

QIn plays like his Ibsen sequel A Doll’s House,

Part 2 or the political conjecture Hillary and

Clinton, the form-breaking young playwright

Lucas Hnath might best be described as a

generator of thought experiments. Hnath goes

more personal with this new work about his

mother, Dana, a psych ward chaplain who was

k i d n a p p e d b y a n e x- c o n p a t i e n t a n d h e l d h o s t a g e

for five months. The narrative is constructed

f r om aud io recor d i n g s of i nter v ie w s w it h Da n a ;

actress Deirdre O’Connell, alone onstage, lip-

synchs to her voice.

Details Loop. Goodman Theatre. $15–$45.

goodmantheatre.org

SEPT. 6–OCT. 13 | THEATER

Tiny Beautiful Things

QBefore the publication of her best-selling

memoir Wild, Cheryl Strayed did a stint as

the anonymous author of the advice column

“Dear Sugar.” Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek

Wedding) adapted some of Strayed’s empathetic

exchanges with her advice seekers for this

acclaimed tearjerker. The shrewd actor Janet

Ulrich Brooks stars in the Chicago premiere.

Details Lincoln Park. Victory Gardens Theater.

$25–$65. victorygardens.org

SEPT. 7 | OPERA

Callas in Concert:

The Hologram Tour

QHolographic technology presents Maria

Callas, the obsession-inducing soprano

who died in 1977, singing some of her best

recordings, accompanied by a living orchestra.

Classical music reviewers, who can be

curmudgeons, found themselves surprisingly

affected by previous versions of the concert,

w it h some of t he a l l-t i me - g reat i nter pret at ion s

of Olympian arias such as “Casta Diva,” “Vissi

d’Arte,” and Carmen’s “Haba nera .”

Details Loop. Lyric Opera House. 7:30 p.m.

$39–$125. lyricopera.org

SEPT. 7–8 | DANCE

Counter Balance: The Power

of Integrated Dance

QThis annual showcase highlights pieces

created and performed by dancers and

choreographers with disabilities. This year’s

edition includes a novel collaboration between

Vertigo Power of Balance, a Jerusalem-based

integrated dance company, and Chicago

choreographer Ginger Lane, an inf luential

MORE THINGS WE WANT

TO DO THIS MONTH

By MEAGHAN GARVEY, GRAHAM MEYER, TAYLOR MOORE,

50 KRIS VIRE, CLAIRE VOON, and LAUREN WARNECKE

Babymetal, The

Barber of Seville,

Eternal Light,

Patti Smith

(Riot Fest), and

Nick Offerman